Any Given Child Bethlehem Program

The BASD is very fortunate to be involved in an exciting program in affiliation with the Kennedy Center. We are very gracious for the numerous local organizations participating and very excited for the upcoming opportunities this program has in store for the BASD.

Overview

The primary goal of the Kennedy Center-supported Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child Bethlehem program is to assist the Bethlehem community in developing and implementing a plan for expanded and enriched arts education in schools, and ensuring access and equity for all students in grades K-8. Although the initiative provides a structure for work to be accomplished, the Kennedy Center understands that every community is unique, and tailors the consultation and facilitation to each site. The Kennedy Center brings to this initiative more than three decades of work with thousands of students, teachers, principals, school district administrators, business leaders, and arts managers across the country.
Vision Statement
A learning community where every child experiences, creates, and values the arts.
GOAL 1 Ensure equitable access to the arts by providing every child a rich community-based arts experience each year from Kindergarten through Grade 8.
ACTION STEPS

• Identify existing community arts resources and school partnerships
• Assemble and educate funders and arts organizations in support of the goal
• Create standards and common language for schools, arts providers and funders
• Identify service/opportunity gaps as well as the available resources to close those gaps
• Map partnerships/resources to close the gaps and achieve the goal
• Establish a tentative budget
• Establish metrics and data resources to address the ongoing success in meeting the goal

GOAL 2 Expand music, literary, and visual arts instruction, and create greater exposure and programming for theater, dance, and media arts.
ACTION STEPS

• Inventory of resources in the community and in the schools
• Identify an advocate or designee in the school for each arts medium that is paired with an arts partner to design a plan.
• Establish an assessment model to chart the exposure of theatre, dance and media arts in comparison to the others (music, visual arts, literary arts) arts based on AGC successes nationwide.
• Establish a curriculum model that expands exposure to the different art forms, allows visiting artists in school programs to model discipline, and incorporates visiting artists’ expertise in curriculum development.
• Move individual classroom teacher/artist relationships to a higher-institutional level to increase arts exposure across the district

GOAL 3 Use the arts to support the social and emotional needs of students.
ACTION STEPS:

• Conduct an inventory of of what is currently being implemented for students with social emotional needs and interest in using arts infused therapeutic models and practices (for students in both special ed and regular ed): including program models used, in which schools, in which grades, by which school staff.
• Assess evidence or research based models of inclusive and therapeutic arts programs that demonstrate positive impact on student
• Identify opportunities where and how arts-based resources can be used to support students’ social and emotional health.
• Provide training to artists in how to incorporate therapeutic and/or social-emotional, mindfulness practices into their arts programming AND training for school staff (counselors, possibly teachers) on how to use identified evidenced-based therapeutic arts models in their work with students.

GOAL 4: Establish a professional learning program that supports arts integration into the core curriculum
ACTION STEPS:

• Provide ongoing education of artists, administrators, teachers, community members, and parents on the language and best practices of community arts organization support of students.
• Define the competencies required of visiting artists participating in Any Given Child Bethlehem
• Implement a competency-based certification/credentialing system and a procedures guide for visiting artists participating in Any Given Child Bethlehem.
• Develop mechanism within BASD to confirm alignment of proposed arts program to Any GIven Child plan and match program to appropriate grade and school.
• Develop communication mechanism to share info on BASD’s Any GIven Child requirements, proposal review process, etc, with arts community.

GOAL 5: Evaluate the success of Any Given Child Bethlehem in meeting its goals by using common measures among the schools and arts community partners
ACTION STEPS

• Review existing data measures and data systems in the field
• Identify qualitative and quantitative metrics for each Any Given Child Bethlehem goal to show process, progress and success.
• Develop an evaluation standards, an evaluation plan, and evaluation timelines
• Acquire integrated tools and resources needed to complete a data-informed evaluation plan
• Provide consistent sharing and reporting of status/progress of Any Given Child Bethlehem goals
• Use data and evaluation information to inform subsequent action steps.

GOAL 6: Establish a sustainable governance and communication structure for Any Given Child Bethlehem.
ACTION STEPS

• Form a communications committee to support communications and engagement plan
• Develop and internal communications plan with shared language and common message
• Develop a communication and engagement plan for sustained awareness and participation by the community
• Identify targets for communication
• Identify partners in the community to fulfill the communications plan

 
Local organizations participating in the Any Given Child Bethlehem Steering Committee include:
The Bethlehem Area School District, City of Bethlehem, Zoellner Arts Center, ArtsQuest, PBS39, Bach Choir, Touchstone Theatre, Mock Turtle Marioneetes, Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, Bethlehem Public Library, Just Born, Inc., Crayola, Lehigh University, Moravian College, Penn State Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges, Allentown Art Museum, ASR Media, United Way of the Lehigh Valley, PPL, Air Products, Capital Blue CrossThe Dexter and Dorothy Baker Foundation, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.